LBR had a training ride today. Gary headed over to groom him before the ride and when he went to LBR's paddock, he found LBR shine clean on one side and coated entirely in mud on the other (no fur showing from his ears, face, side, butt legs).

Grooming the mud off took almost 30 minutes and a LBR is sensitive to the curry he was not a happy camper. Silly horse - we only got about 1/3" of rain - he must have fallen asleep in the mud on that side.

The training ride started off good at the walk and trot. The canter to the left was good, but LBR WOULD NOT take his right lead. The trainer tried every method known to mankind but after about 10 attempts, she abandoned the flat work.

Today, LBR did gymnastics for the first time. It started with two jumps and then a third jump was added to the line. He LOVED it.

After the ride, Gary groomed LBR and returned him to his paddock and gave him a few carrots.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Gary headed over to the stables mid-morning to ride LBR. They had a great ride in the sand arena including jumping (trotting in, cantering out) the hay-bale jump and the green brush box. Towards the end of the ride, a cold front was aprooaching so they stopped riding just in time to get in the grooming stall before the rain came down.

LBR had a training ride today. Gary headed over to the stables to groom and tack him up. The trainer rode LBR in the grass arena today. His flat work was good. He had trouble with the "quick" corners at the show this weekend so rather than do courses on him (he can jump - loves it) she worked him in a 20 meter circle at the trot and canter over ground poles. He found it very difficult mentally. He eventually got the hange of it and figured out how many strides between each of the 4 poles and not to switch leads over them.

After the session, Gary rinsed LBR off (it was a very warm spring day in Central Texas) and then led him around a bit to dry off. LBR walked through the canyon (aka tire ruts) on the first try today.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Gary & Cindy headed over to the stables around 9:30 to meet the farrier. He hadn't arrived yet so they groomed LBR and took him for a walk around the property.

The stalled horses are now being turned out at night so all of their paddocks were empty. Gary & Cindy decided to take LBR to the paddock at the far end the property from his paddock. These paddocks adjoin another property and there is a horse and a donkey that live there.

LBR is fascinated with them when he can see them from the arena. He met them today. The paint mare was friendly - not marish or snorty at all. The donkey was just as friendly and even gave LBR "kisses".

After the visit, Gary worked with LBR and his fear of unlevel ground. He eventually stood still in the "bottomless pit" and grazed.

The farrier arrived and LBR stood patiently to have his front hooves reshod and back hooves trimmed. Cindy thinks LBR has small feet, but the farrier said "Heck no...he wears a size 2 shoe". She was surprised:-)

Gary and Cindy returned LBR back to his paddock. Cindy replaced a few t-post caps that had been removed. They gave LBR a few treats before heading home around 12:30 p.m.

Today LBR headed to the schooling show with the trainer. Cindy & Gary were out of town so didn't get to go.

The trainer schooled LBR and decided not to enter him in any classes. He was 'GREAT' according to the trainer and though he was a bit distracted by the crowd, he was responsive.

After schooling, the ladies from the stable were sitting by the trailer facing the showground with the horses tied to the trailer behind them. One of them looked back to check on the horses and said "Where's Red?" About that time someone by an adjoining trailer said "Loose Horse". LBR had untied himself and looked to be headed a few feet away to graze.

He then noticed some riders across the field taking a trail ride and decided to trot over to them (about 1/3 of a mile) to visit. He wasn't wild - just prancing across the pasture like the "stud muffin" he thinks he is. After trotting for a bit looking both ways in his attitude moves, he stopped at the top of a hill and posed. The girls trail riding dismounted as he aprroached. As one of them reached out to catch him while he posed, he flagged his tail and trotted back to the trailer where he stopped to be caught.

Friday, February 18, 2011

LBR had a training ride today. Gary headed over around 10:00 a.m. to groom him. It was an extremely windy (gusts to 35 mph) day.

LBR did his flat work well, but after a few courses, and with horses in the paddocks running around like crazy, he lost focus.

The trainer got off of him and lunged him. He did his famous gallop with whinnies/snorts/squeals in one spot of the circle repeatedly. After a few minutes of getting that out of his system. He started cantering properly and did perfect transitions on the lunge line.

After the training, Gary bathed LBR and the trainer "pulled" his mane. The trainer is taking him to a show on Saturday...if all goes well with schooling, he'll be in the 2'3" classes.

Gary headed over to the stables to groom and tack LBR for his lesson around 10:00 a.m.

The trainer had another great ride on LBR. She is going to be taking him to a schooling show this Saturday and was originally going to show him in the 2' Futures class. This class would be held in a small arena.

Because LBR was so good during his flat work, she decided to try him around some 2'3" courses. He did very well.

So...the plans change, instead of the 2' Futures class, she will be showing LBR in the 2'3" class in the large arena. Gary & Cindy won't be there to cheer him on, but a good friend from the stables has offered to video his classes.

After the ride, Gary groomed LBR and returned him to his paddock with treats of carrots and alfalfa cubes.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Gary and Cindy headed over to the stables in the early afternoon. It has been nearly three (3) weeks since Gary has ridden LBR so the plan was for Cindy to warm him up and then let Gary do most of the riding today.

LBR started off extremely lazy again. Cindy's legs were sore from pushing him in the lesson yesterday. A light bulb came on in her head. LBR was lazy like this one time about 6 months ago. A quick tap on the butt by Cindy's hand and voila...LBR woke up.

They trotted and cantered a bit and LBR was fabulous.

Gary then rode LBR for about 30 minutes at the walk, trot and canter. They had a great ride ending with a bit of trail riding.

As LBR still had a lot of his new found energy, after removing his tack and grooming him, Gary lunged LBR for a few minutes. LBR was so happy - he was smiling.

Gary and Cindy headed to the stables around 11:30 a.m. for Cindy's 1:00 p.m. lesson.

LBR was munching on his big round bale of hay when they arrived. Gary brought LBR up from his paddock while Cindy staged the tack and grooming supplies. There was a 12:00 p.m. lesson in progress and a lot of activity at the barn.

LBR fell asleep while Gary groomed and tacked him up. Cindy mounted LBR in the sand arena and then headed to the grass arena to warm/wake up LBR.

He was extremely lazy.

This laziness continued to the lesson and LBR finally woke up to trot over the ground poles. His flat work was not as good as it has been due to the laziness, but his course work was excellent.

After the lesson, Cindy took him on a trail ride around the property. She removed his tack and groomed and Gary took him back to his paddock while she cleaned up the grooming stall.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

LBR had a training ride today. Gary headed over around 10:00 a.m. to groom and tack him up for his 11:00 a.m. ride. LBR is progressing so well. Enjoy the videos (and don't yell...it's his trainer's choice not to wear a helmet)

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The high temperature today was 42F degrees at 4:45 a.m. The wicked cold front arrived with rain turning into sleet. The mess ended by about 8:00 a.m. Roads were okay for Cindy's commute to work and the sun popped out in the afternoon. Wind gusts were up to 50 mph...WINTER GO AWAY.

Gary picked up the trailer and parked it at the stables. LBR appreciated the quick visit with treats. He wouldn't leave his shelter though to come to the gate. Gary treated him in his little barn.

It's been 7 weeks since LBR has visited the farrier. Today he had a training ride and the trainer said his hooves/front shoes look great and that several of the horses are going 8 weeks between trims and he would be fine for another week.

His training ride was absolutely perfect. His ground work was focused and he did full courses at the canter with flying lead changes.

A cold front was predicted to come in overnight so Gary headed back over to the stables in the early evening and put LBR's blanket on.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

LBR had the day off today. Gary took the trailer up to Georgetown to the dealership to have the new doors installed.

The trailer is a 2001 CM Aluminum 2 horse. The escape/front doors had some issues with the laminate glue. When it was purchased, Gary did some research and contacted the manufacturer regarding the "cosmetic" issue. They said it was a known issue with the glue they used and would replace the doors for free.

Mother Nature has been so good the past couple of weeks. It was sunny and in the low 80F's last weekend and sunny and low 70F's this weekend.

Cindy had a lesson today on LBR. She and Gary headed over to the stables around 9:15 a.m. for her 10:30 a.m. lesson. They anticipated a high-spirited LBR and arrived early so that he could be lunged.

Gary brought LBR up from his paddock while Cindy put out his supplements for the week and staged the tack and grooming supplies. The day was warming up, but there was still a biting wind blowing about 20 mph.

After grooming/tacking, Gary took LBR to the round pen for some lunging. As predicted - he was full of himself. He always listens and does well, but when he's frisky, he well add in a few kicks and snorts to his cantering.

After about 20 minutes of lunging, Cindy took him down to the grass arena to warm up for their lesson. LBR was a little spirited, but was listening well.

They headed back down to the sand arena for their lesson. During the initial walk/trot flat work, LBR was somewhat distracted. Cindy was nervous about cantering, but "put her big girl panties on" and they cantered perfectly. LBR got the correct leads in both directions...YAY!!!!

During the course work, we had another runaway horse....thankfully it wasn't LBR and thankfully the rider was able to stop her horse.

LBR's course work was excellent - no rushing, no over jumping, etc. Once again, he was the start in the lesson:-) He's so smart!!!!

After the lesson, Cindy took him on a trail ride around the property. She learned a new term this week....she rode him "on the buckle" the entire trail ride.

Gary & Cindy took off LBR's tack, groomed him and took him back to his paddock for treats.

Gary brought LBR up from his paddock and he was quite frisky. Cindy had a good ride on LBR in the sand arena, but due to 25 mph winds and the fact LBR hadn't been ridden in 5 days, she skipped the cantering.

LBR settled nicely and they did a lot of transition and bending work. There were other riders in the arena and LBR did a good job of focusing on Cindy and ignoring them.

After the ride, Gary & Cindy returned LBR back to his paddock for carrots.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Cindy chose to work from home and started work at 6:30 a.m. She was done working by 3:00 p.m and Gary and she headed over to see LBR. Someone was soaking up the sun by the time they got there and when Gary approached the paddock LBR was rolling and waking up.

They took warm water and oats to make a mash for LBR. Gary brought LBR up from his paddock, and removed his blanket (it was 40F degrees by this time in the day). While Gary groomed LBR, Cindy prepared his "mash"...Gary's telling LBR how good her soup is.

She carried it down to the paddock in advance of Gary leading LBR back. The video is of LBR "attacking" Cindy because he prefers carrots to mash.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Gary headed over to visit LBR late in the morning. He made him a "mash" of oats, alfalfa cubes and water. He brought LBR up to the stables for grooming to make sure his blanket was fitting properly. Everything was fine so they headed back to the paddock for some mush eating.

LBR slurped it up and even drooled it onto Gary's jacket and shoes.

We are supposed to get snow overnight and then a break from the cold weather this weekend.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Well...the weather hit about 3:15 a.m. and woke both Cindy and Gary up. Winds of 70 mph were recorded in the neighboring town of Pflugerville. A friend from the stables had an extra blanket and offered it up for loan. She even delivered it to Cindy at work yesterday.

Gary headed over around 9:00 a.m. to put the blanket on LBR. When he arrived at the stables, he found the owner cleaning up from major damage to the hay barn.

Gary brought LBR up from his paddock and got him settled in the cross-ties. This was no easy feat as there was sheet metal flapping on the nearby hay barn still.

LBR stood nicely for getting blanketed and Gary returned him to his paddock. As soon as the treats ran out, LBR cantered down and into his shelter leaving Gary at the gate.

Today LBR had a training ride. The trainer started with flat work and LBR was good.

After the flat work, she did a few courses with him. She was focused on getting him slow and collected before the jumps. A couple of times, LBR broke down into the trot. After a few mistakes, he settled in nicely and cantered to and away at a very slow and collected pace.

The weather is going to have a drastic change. It was 78F degrees and sunny today. Tomorrow's forecast is for a high of 33F degrees with the storm coming through overnight.